Playing music from Cirque du Soleil's "Ka", the Farmington High School marching band earned its best-ever finish in the Nov. 3 Michigan Competing Band Association (MCBA) state finals, held at Ford Field in Detroit. 

Director Michael Steele said the band, which earned 5th place honors, has qualified in each of the past four years. He explained that the band posted the sixth highest score in its flight through preliminary competition. 

"Our group is competing very well with bands that are twice our size," Steele said.

The program music "had a kind of worldly flavor to it ... very groovy, so it was a lot of fun to work with," he added. The 68 band members work through the summer in "small bits and pieces", then start rehearsing three times a week as a group the second week in August. 

Steele said competition judges provide tapes of the band's performances "to guide our preparation for the next competition." The same show is performed throughout the season, but tweaked and refined with each performance. 

"We keep trying to refine our process," Steele said. "The kids work really hard and have a great time. We also have strong parental support."

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